Front sheet-guide for printing-presses.



C. J. ROBERTSON.

FRONT SHEET GUIDE FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLlCATiON FILED JUNE 1.1915.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

COLUMBIA PMNDORAPH (JO-,WASHINDTDN. D- C C. ROBERTSON.

FRONT SHEET GUIDE FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, 191-5.

1,161,251. Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

(tai /5955 661 i COLUMBIA PLANDcIkAPM c0.. WASHINGTON, n. c.

marten erase ra'rnnr tll lfim CHARLES JAMES ROBERTSON, OF TAUNTON,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MIEI-ILE PRINTING'PRESS & MANUFACTURINGCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLI- NOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FRONT SHEET-GUIDE FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

Application filed June 7, 1915. Serial No. 32,548.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1, CHARLES J AMEs Ronnn'rsoN, a subject of the King ofEngland, residing at Taunton, in the county of Bristol and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFront Sheet-Guides for Printing-Presses, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention has to do with machines such as printing presses, foldingmachines and the like to which sheets as of paper are fed eitherautomatically or by hand to be operated upon in accurate and unvaryingregister. In machines of this character-it is usual to have sidesheet-guides to fix the lateral register of the sheet and also frontsheet guides to govern the location of the sheet longitudinally of themachine.

The present invention relates to the front sheet guide. a

Hitherto front guides have been of either one of two classes, those inwhich the sheet contacting member of the guide moves substantially atright angles to the plane of the sheet, the guide moving up across theedge of the paper and allowing the sheet to pass underneath, and thosein which the sheet contacting member moves in the general direction ofthe sheet travelbut faster than the sheet until it is swung slightly outof the path of the latter. 7

The present'invention relates to this second class of front guides andis particularly directed to the provision of means for supporting,adjustin and actuating the guides to obtain the most correct registerthrough the extreme rigidity of construction thus made possible andthrough the reduction to a minimum of the weight of those parts thatmust start their movement suddenly and at high speed. j

Heretofore the supporting rod for the guides has also been the forcetransmitting or actuating shaft. This has necessitated long, slenderstructures which must be oscillated very'suddenly and at high speed andconsequently with much Vibration which latter precludes accurateregistering. As heretofore arranged, to keep the moving parts lightinweight has necessitated making the supporting rod of slenderdimensions and loose in its bearings so'thatit may oscillate freely.According to this present invention the supporting rod may be and ispreferably, as shown, a massive bar rigidly fixed to-the main frame ofthe machine itself while to this stationary supporting rod is firmlyfixed in a state of rest the body of the guide which is firmly clampedin adjusted position both longitudinally and trans versely of themachine. The actuating shaft, being separated entirely from the frontguide and making physical contact with any part thereof only when andafter the guide has accomplished its function of registering the sheet,may be as light as desired for quick action and may have as manyadditional bearings between the side frames as are needed, thesebearings being rigidly supported from the fixed guide supporting rod.The member which bears the actual sheet-contacting surface of the frontguide is thus made exceedingly light and this member is the only partthat has to start froma state of rest as the speed of the paper; and allthe spring required is such as is needed to control this small mass. Thecombating forces between the actuating means and the spring return areconfined to a region closely adjacent the final sheet guiding point, andtransmission stresses and strains are thus largely avoided in all theparts affecting register.

In order that the invention and its mode guides in elevation; and Fig. 2is a fragmentary front elevation of one end of the cylinder and guide.

One side of. the main frame of the machine is represented at 11, itbeing understood that this framing consists generally of the two sideframes with suitable base and cross ties spacing them apart so as to support the two ends of the cylinder shaft and any other shafts orrodsextending across said frame. Suitably journaled in the two sideframe members 11 is the shaft-12 of the cylinder '13 for clockwiserotation as represented in Fig. 1 by means of suitable gearing or otherdriving means not shown. This cylinder is of the usual construction andis provided with sheet grippers 14 carried by sheet of paper and torelease the same thereafter in proper t1n1ed sequence to the opera tionof the machine upon the sheet. The feed board is indicated at 16, beingrlgidly supported and adapted to receive the sheets and to support thesame as they are fed to the machine and into register with the front andside gages respectively. The metallic front extension of the feed boardis shown at 17 and to-the underside thereof is the underguide 18 mountedupon the rod 19 for adjustment to the desired position transversely ofthe press, there being as many underguides 18 as thereare front guides.

The parts thus far described are of the usual character and form nodistinctive part of the'present invention'which is adapted for use inconnection with feeding mechanism cylinders and grippers of many types.Suitably fixed in the side frame members 11 is the guide supporting rod20 having therein a longitudinally extending V-shaped groove 21 withinwhich engage the set screws 22 by means ofwhich the rod 20 is fixedagainst rotation within the machine frame and which groove also serves,as will be hereafter described, for the adjustable mounting of the frontguides upon the rod. The actual sheet contacting surface by which thefront edge of the sheet is registered is usually of hardened steel andis here shown as a plate 23 fastened by screws to the finger 24 pivotedto the body of the guide at 25 The guide body comprises two side members26, 26, slidably mounted upon the guide supporting rod 20. These twoside members are spaced apart by the square shouldered stud '27 and,when clamped in adjusted position, by thesquared end 28 of the adjustingscrew 29. Between these two side plate members is a hub 30 which isslidablyfmounted upon the supporting rod 20 but held from angularmovement thereon by th'e engagerhent within the groove 21 of thecylindrical gib 31 which lies lengthwise partially within the groove andpartially within a rectangular key seat 32 of the hub 30. The clampingof the hub 30 inadjusted position longitudinally of the shaft 20 is ac-I complished by means of the set screw 33 movement thereon it is alsonecessary to which bears inwardly upon the cylindrical gib3ll I 1- Whileit is desired to securely anchor the guides'upon the rod 20 to preventangular provide for a slight angular adjustment of the guides inorderjtoadjust the position which; "will be occupied by, the contact SUI: fateof the guide plate 23 longitudinally of the machine to vary the frontmargin of the sheet. To efiect this adjustment of the front guide thesame is angularly adjusted bodily by swinging the same about the axis ofthe rod 20 as a center. This will vary the front margin of the sheetwithin a requisite range without materially affecting the angularrelation of the plate 23 to the front edge of the sheet, this being dueto the fact that the supporting rod 20 includes a radial plane from thecenter of the cylinder within which plane lies the sheet contacting faceof the guide plate 23, and the swing of the front guide, about the axisof the supporting rod 20 will therefore be approximately tangent to thecylinder 13 at the feed point within the extent of its range ofadjustment and practically parallel to the sheet as it lies on the feedboard and extension 16, 17. This adjustment is accomplished in themanner following: The hand wheel 84 on the screw 29 has a boss 35bearing upon a washer 36 which in turn bears upon an upward extension 37of the hub 30. The squared end 28 of the screw 29 is normally rigidlyclamped L between the side plate members 26 by means of the bolt 38whereby the body of the guide is rigidly connected with the frame of themachine through the hub 30 and the supporting rod 20. Upon the looseningof the nut 39 of the bolt 38 the clamping action of the plates upon thehub 30 and upon the squared end 28 of the nut of the screw is relievedto such an extent that by the manipulation of the hand wheel 3th theplates and hub may be angularly moved relative to each other resultingin the swinging of the guide bodily about the axis of the supporting rod20 as a pivot and thus adjusting the ,sheet contacting plate 23 in anare which is i" tangent to the cylinder at the point of feed andsubstantially parallel. to the plane of the sheet lying upon the feedboard.

The guide finger 24: pivoted at 25 is yieldingly held in the positionshown against abutment-s 26 on the side plate members 26 by thecompression spring 40 on a rod 41 which is pivoted at 12 to the saidguide finger 24, said rod 11 being guided at its opposite end in thesquared stud 27.

The guide-actuating shaft 43 is journaled in bearings of the machineframe at M so as to rock freely at the proper time and it may beprovided with additional bearings as indicated at 15 intermediate thetwo sides of the frame. These intermediate bearings being rigidlysupported upon the fixed rod 20. Upon this actuating shaft 43 is mounteda series of tappet arms 46 for slidable adjustment longitudinally of theshaft by means of opposed grooves within which is mounted between thetwo side plates 26 whereby the tappet armG slides longitudinally of itsshaft 4:?) together with the side plates and a key 47 which is confinedwithin the grooves hub of the guide body without disturbing the angularfixed relation between the tappet arm 4-6 and its shaft 4-8, the one setscrew 33 being thus utilized to clamp the entire guide m chanism inlongitudinal adjustment upon the shafts and 43.

The tappet arm L6 carries at its free end a roller 48 which is adaptedto engage, upon the rocking of the shaft 43, with a projection 49 of theguide finger 24. The position at rest of the tappet arm 4. 6 and thefinger extension 19 is such that there is a considerable distancebetween the said extension 4-9 and the roll 48 which allows for the armand roll to have reached its maximum speed of angular swing togetherwith the shaft 43 before it contacts with the extension 49 in order thatthe contact plate 23 of the guide finger 24 shall move at the propertime suddenly and at the requisite speed to clear the path of the sheetafter registration.

The shaft 43 is actuated by means of a cam which is fastened by means ofa bolt 51 screwed into the end of the cylinder 13 within a slot 52 ofthe cam 50 so that the timing of the cam 50 may be regulated. This cam50 acts upon a roll 53 on a stud 54: at the front end of an arm 55 whichis rigidly secured to the actuating shafts?) so that the said shaft t3will be rocked in properly timed relation to the feed of the sheetswhereby to effect the front registration of the sheet and the withdrawalof the front guide from before the sheet at the proper time so as topermit the passage of the sheet thereunder.

From the foregoing it will be seen that, in addition to the advantageousconstructional features heretofore pointed out, reaching to theattainment of rigidity and quickness of response to the actuatingforces, the inven tion presents further advantages over the prior art.

Heretofore it has been usual to withdraw the front guide previous to thegrasping of the sheet by the grippers and front drops or grasshoppershave been used to hold the sheet in position on the feed plate in theinterval therebetween, thus necessitating additional mechanism withouteven then entirely avoiding danger of disarrangement of the registeredsheet. My invention above described entirely eliminates this uncertaintyby permitting the grippers to seize the sheet immediately after theregistration of the latter and while yet held against the front guides,which guides move forwardly away from and upwardly out of the path ofthe sheet, while it is advancing in the grasp of the grippers. Thisforward and upward movement of the guide, about its axis 25. which issubstantially in the radial plane of the cylinder passing through thepoint of sheet registration and at a higher speed than that of thepaper, avoids the dragging of the guide face transversely across and incontact with the edge of the sheet with the con sequent danger ofdisturbing the position of the registered sheet.

1. In a machine of the character described, afront sheet-guide mechanismcomprising a stationary supporting rod extending longitudinally of thecylinder, a plurality of front guides supported by the rod and includingsheet-contact fingers mounted for independent movement into and out ofthe path of the sheet, yielding means to hold the fingers normally inthe path of the sheet, and means mounted independently of the supportingrod and adapted to engage the con tact fingers to actuate the same, andmeans controlled by the operation of the press to act upon the actuatingmeanswhereby to withdraw the sheet contact fingers and perunit the sheetto be advanced by the grippers.

2. In amachine of the character described, a front sheet-guide mechanismcomprising a guide-supporting rod extending longitudinally of thecylinder, a plurality of front guides supported by the rod andadjustable bodily about the axis thereof and including sheet contactlingers pivoted for independent movement thereof into and out of thepath of the sheet, yielding means normally holding the contact fingersin the path of the sheet, tappet members mounted independently of theguide supporting rod and adapted to engage the fingers, and means to 3"actuate thetappet members in timed relation to the operation of thepress whereby to withdraw the sheet contact fingers and permit the sheetto be advanced by the grip pers.

scribed, a front sheet-guide mechanism com- 3. In a machine of thecharacter deprising a guide supporting rod rigidly i mounted in themachine frame and extendlongitudinally of the cylinder, a plurality offront guides mounted on the rod for bodily adjustment longitudinally ofthe rod and about the axis thereof and including sheet contact fingerspivoted for independent movement in an arcuate path, springs normallyholding the contact fingers in the path of the sheet fed to the machine.

vtappet members mounted independently of the guide supporting rod andadapted to engage the fingers, and means to actuate the tappet membersin timed relation to the operation of the press whereby to withdraw thesheet contact fingers and permit the sheet to be advanced by thegrippers.

4. In a machine of the character described, a front sheet-guidemechanism comprising a guide supporting rod rigidly mounted in themachine frame and extending longitudinally of the cylinder in a radialplane including the points of engagement of l the sheet by the grippers,a plurality of front guides mounted on the rod for bodily adjustmentlongitudinally thereof and about the. axis thereof and including sheetcontact fingers pivoted for independent movement in an arcuate pathtangential to the cylinder surface, springs normally holding the contact fingers in thepath of the sheet fed to the machine, tappet membersmounted independently of the guide supporting rod and adapted to'engagethe fingers, and means to actuate the tappet members in timed relationto the operation of the press whereby to withdraw the sheet contactfingers and permit the sheet to be advanced by the grippers.

In a machine of the character described, a front sheet-guide mechanismcomprising a stationary guide-supporting rod extending longitudinally ofthe cylinder, a plurality of front guides supported by the rod andadjustable bodily about the axis thereof and including sheet contactfingers pivoted for movement independently thereof into and out of thepath of the sheet, yielding means normally holding the contact fingersin the path of the sheet, a rock shaft j ournaled in the machine frameparallel to the guide supporting rod, tappet arms carried by the rockshaft and adapted to actuate the contact fingers upon the rocking of theshaft, and means to rock the shaft in timed relation to the operation ofthe machine whereby to withdraw the sheet contact fingers and permit thesheet to be advanced by the grippers.

6. In a machine of the character described, 'a front sheet-guidemechanism comprising a guide supporting rod rigidly mounted in themachine frame and eXtending longitudinally of the cylinder in a radialplane including the points of engagement of thieqsheet by the grippers,a pluralityof front guides mounted on the rod Copies of this patentinaybe obtained for to the cylinder surface, springs normally holding thecontact fingers in the path of the sheet fed to the machine, a rockshaft journaled in the machine frame parallel to the guide supportingrod, tappet arms car-- ried by the rock shaft and adapted to actuate thecontact fingers upon the rocking of the shaft, and means to rock theshaft in timed relation to the operation of the machine whereby towithdraw the sheet contact fingers and permit the sheet to be advancedby the grippers.

In a machine of the character described, a front guide mechanismcomprising a stationary supporting rod extending longitudinally of thecylinder, front guides supported by the rod normally in the path of thesheet, guide-actuating means mounted independently of the supporting rodand arranged to engage the guides at predetermined intervals to move thesame out of the path of the sheet as the latter is advanced by thegrippers.

8. In a machine of the character described, a front guide mechanismcomprising a supporting rod extending longitudinally of the cylinder,front guides supported by the rod and including sheet contact fingerspivoted for independent movement in an arcuate path tangential to thecylinder surface, the pivotal axis of the fingers lying substantially ina radial plane including the cylinder axis and the points of engagementof the sheet by the grippers, yielding means holding the fingersnormally in the path of the sheet, guide-actuating means mountedindependently of the supporting rod and arranged to engage the guides atpredetermined intervals to move the same forwardly and outwardly out ofthe path. of the sheet as the latter is advanced by the grippers.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of asubscribing witness.

' CHARLES JAMES ROBERTSON. Witness:

F. E. SWEETLAND.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. G.

